The present invention relates to a record cleaning device for use in applying to the surface of a phonograph record or video disc an adhesive which is tacky and can be peeled or separated, after dried, as a film from the record face.
Conventional methods of cleaning phonograph records have been proposed, including wiping the surface of a record after spraying a cleaning liquid over the record surface, and use of a roller, as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,292, provided with an adhesive tape on the surface thereof and which is to be rolled in contact over the record surface, thus removing dirt and dust as caught by the adhesive tape. These conventional cleaning methods permit to remove dirt and dust on the surface of the record, but not dust particles in the sound grooves in the record face.
To eliminate such drawbacks, a method of removing dirt and dust on the record surface as well as in the sound grooves in the record face has been proposed. According to this method, an adhesive is composed of polyvinyl alcohol as film forming material, mixture of water and alcohol as solvent, polyether silicon as peeling material, polyoxyethylene alkyl amine as anti-static agent, and a little amount of plasticizer, and it is applied to the surface of the phonograph record. The adhesive applied to the record surface is left for a predetermined length of time until it dries. The resultant film of the adhesive thus contains the dirt and dust on the record surface as well as in the sound grooves in the record face. The film is then peeled off the record surface; in this way, the record is cleaned. The use of such adhesive is very effective for removal of dirt and dust on the record surface, but no means has been proposed which can effectively apply the adhesive to the record surface. A record cleaning device of the prior art, which has been proposed as a helpful applicator, is composed of a flexible, cylindrical container provided at the open end thereof with a sponge; the adhesive is put into the container. By compressing the container body by hand with the sponge being on the lower side, the adhesive penetrates into the sponge. By rubbing the record surface with the sponge, the adhesive is applied to the record surface. However, such conventional record cleaning device can hardly apply the adhesive uniformly over the record surface; it takes a long time to provide a uniform thickness of adhesive layer on the record surface. In addition, such uniform application of the adhesive requires a skill. If the adhesive is applied unevenly to the record surface, adhesive layers of excessive thickness are often made; thus the drying time is longer because it is necessary to wait until the thickest layer of adhesive dries up. In some cases, it took more than one day to clean the surface of a record. On the contrary, when it is intended to apply the adhesive to a thin layer on the record surface, there remain some regions with no application of the adhesive or extremely thin layers of the adhesive are produced in many cases. Although the drying time is shorter when the film of adhesive is thinner, the film is easy to break at the no-adhesive regions or thin layers; in this case, it takes much labor and time to clear such film pieces. Besides, if a film easy to break is formed on the record surface, it is rather difficult to peel it off and to clear it. Eventually the film pieces remain in the sound grooves in the record face. It is difficult to remove the film pieces remaining in the sound grooves, if the record in question is played, the film pieces remained in the sound grooves will damage the stylus or spoil the record playing.